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I’ve been reminded of this often lately by friends, loved ones, and even a song or two. It is a concept that I believe to be true and I wrap that understanding into my life on a daily basis.

Before you get your hackles raised think about it for a minute. How do you change how you interact with the world around you if this is true? It is probable that there are some attitudes that would change drastically. I know for myself that I live with more joy and freedom. I’m less stressed, less worried about what comes next. The root cause of disease is something going wrong in the body, stress and upset are big triggers in this so anything that can be done to shift one’s perspective to being more easygoing and relaxed will have a positive net gain on the body. If you don’t believe this try searching for ‘stress causes disease’ and you’ll be astounded into believing by science.

It can be hard when mired in personal, community, or world tragedy to hold this thought in mind. In fact during those times you might downright feel resistant to anything having to do with it. But try to let a little acceptance creep in. But sitting back and relaxing isn’t the suggestion here. The suggestion is to try to understand that there is healing potential within every situation. While action and planning might be needed as well, having a positive mindset can only help the situation.

So whether it is true that each tragedy or occurrence literally goes inside your body and can transform you into someone more healthy, maintaining an attitude that this is the truth allows you to BE more healthy.

I will probably reflect many more times than once how every time that it comes for me to become connected to a new plant friend it shows up in droves. This story is of my meeting with Ramps, the wild allium that brightly, if not pungently, welcomes the growing season in the springtime.

To be clear I’m not a professional forager (does that even exist?,) or a plant biologist; I’m just a layperson who has been introducing herself to plants for years. All I do is walk in the woods and fields that surround my day-to-day and introduce myself to the landscape and the things that live there. Sometimes I sing to them, and sometimes have conversations. The conversations can be aloud musings or subtly energetic exchanges of awareness and information. Over time I’ve become friends with various plants along the way and in return they freely offer me sustenance I can not buy in the grocery store.

This past spring was the spring of the ramps. I’ve wanted to harvest them for years, but even with guide books didn’t feel confident enough with this one. Of course with what I know now its easy, but then they say hindsight is 20/20. Continue reading “Wild Wanderings: Ramps”

Recently at Bread & Puppet’sThe Honey Let’s Go Home Opera in NYC I was smacked in the face by a big old WTF?! within the first few minutes of the performance. I knew there would be music and puppets and had heard that it was cool to be there, but that didn’t prepare me for the opening chorus of mechanical noises, dissonant voices and instruments all swaying in rhythm with a massive puppet. To say it was surreal is an understatement. For a split second I was worried that I wasn’t going to like it or that I was in over my head, but that moment passed and I got sucked deeply into the unfolding opera.

What this showed me is that the absurd draws you in deep if you can keep yourself open and curious. What I noticed is that in the face of the bizarre you are actually more free than you were before. Why? Well because all the expectations of society and propriety have been blown out of the water making what was once impossible or unreasonable suddenly possible.

Let’s take Oprah for example. She has an Empire of a multimedia company. Through it she has earned the love and support of millions. Years ago she said she wasn’t interested in running for office, but in the face of a man who some call a buffoon currently holding the world’s stage, anything had become possible.

But let’s look at this from a personal perspective: when anything becomes possible and the boundaries that you though were there are revealed to be imaginary, what would you do? I know that I found myself inspired by Bread & Puppet to create an almanac for the Burning Man community. Because to marry the surreal with the realistic in such a way that is blows people minds open to their own creative potential is the highest form of art in my opinion.

This was written as was shared with me by Spirit back in 2015. When I grow my corn I always share this prayer with it prior to planting. Reach out if you are interested in buying corn for ceremonial use.

I’m not a doctor & I’m not a surgeon and so without the help of the Magic School Bus going into my anatomy I can’t actually see what’s going on inside of my body. Except I can. Continue reading “Going Inside”

** A short part of what will one day be a longer creative writing piece.**

I gave up on sleep. Or did sleep give up on me? This morning, I’m not sure which it is. And so I roll over with all the enthusiasm of someone who has had a night full of dreams about being chased, surrounded by evil people, and frustrated at every turn, only to try to divine information from the symbols and continually have images from The Road pop into my head. Great. That’s going to make jumping into my day so much more fun. Not to mention that I only have until Friday to do a massive quantity of work. I’ll be taking a small bite out of a massive rotting corpse. Unpleasant. I feel like this will take me longer than I committed to. But I have no choice now. Really I do and I should be a lot less negative about this all. Sit down. Maybe meditate. Feel one with everything around me and smile. Maybe yoga and a run will help this off kilter brain to get back on track.

Instead I log onto the computer and open Firefox. Getting ready to check email and Facebook, as if either will have some insight on how to gain my positiveness back.

Facebook is just a thing. A tool. Something on the internet that someone though up to try to serve a function. You may or may not like that function, but that is just what it is. Right now a lot of people use Facebook because it works to fill their needs. In fact, social media is constantly changing and updating and the way that you use it may be completely different than the way someone else does.

One day there may be something else that we decide to use. But the thing is Facebook itself is not evil. It may be a time suck for some, allowing them to drift into a world entirely (dis) connected to the one apart from the screen, but the thing itself is not a time suck.

People get distracted because they don’t practice not getting distracted. I mean yes, there are links to the way something works and patterns of behavior, I mean why do you think that grocery stores are all laid out similarly or the same musak is playing when you call the doctor or the IRS? But it is still an individuals responsibility to face their choices and make decisions as to how they behave if they wish to live the life they want to live.

We are not taught this in school though. No one sat me down and explained that behavior was based on pattern and that I was responsible for making sure I developed that habits that I wanted. Sometimes it is a struggle to remember this self-empowerment when faced with hours cycling through statuses, likes, and comments. If I am owned by the social media itself it is my choice. AND I have the ability to make a different choice. For if truly we are out of control when it comes to decisions that persuasive advertising and things that make us behave certain ways should not allowed to exist, no?

As a tool, Facebook makes decisions that it wishes because people continue to use it and amazing things are happening because of this access. Live stream meditation or injustice as it unfolds. Use it to promote your event. Share news with family and friends worldwide. None of these actions are inherently wrong. People who choose not to go on are making their choice. People who choose to take breaks are making their choice. Neither is wrong.

Addictive behaviors and why we seek them have nothing to do with the tools available to us. They have to do with how we are hard wired in this world. The internet is born of how we interact with it, not to manipulate it but because we understand ourselves so well.

So use Facebook and perhaps instead of railing on, think of the ways in which you can cultivate a healthy relationship with this tool instead of blaming it for the choices that you make. And in the end maybe take a look at yourself and what you are avoiding looking at in the first place that drive overuse?

I used to pretend that when I took my dog out we were going for a walk. To me this was a structured thing. I had in my imagination that we’d go out and walk briskly. Then at some point the dog would take one break to pee and another to poo and then we’d continue along our route briskly returning home.

I quickly found out that I was wrong, which you probably already knew. Instead my daily walks looked more like a time for my puppy and now dog to sniff everything in sight. Repeatedly. For extended periods of time. Sometimes we’d find ourselves in the same spot for several minutes. When I let him he can wax poetic with a stick or a flower sniffing until he gets a glazed look in his eyes, looking intoxicated by the object before him and all its smells. When I remember how happy it makes him and can shake myself out of my schedule and how many minutes I have before I need to leave I take the time and notice the world around me as well. Continue reading “Going For A Sniff”

Driving from Reno after a flight west and supplies run, the car filled with equipment and what had been strangers just hours before finally arrive at the gate. Dust kicked up by cars driving across the dry lake bed swirled through the open window as our tickets were scanned. Driving forward to the Greeters where the packed car of travelers would be given the official welcome to Burning Man.

It was my first year. I had read everything on the website, gotten sage advice from friends who had been before, but while the open playa before me was filled with expectation it was empty of actual knowing what would happen in the coming week.

We got out of the car facing the costumed Greeters at our station. We received the WhatWhereWhen Guide, a map, and a brief orientation of where to head. One S&M leather clad Greeter asked if we had any virgins and I raised my hand. I was invited to lay down on the playa to make a dust angel. My travel companions, both returning burners, looked on with eyes glittering as they encouraged me to lay down on the ground. Continue reading “Dust angel”

One bare foot after another pressed uncomfortably into the thick rope of the cargo net. The angle steepening until it became sheer vertical. Reaching to the U shaped staples fastened around the thick post to finish my climb to the top of the tower. Determined to make it. Actually, unsure if not making it is an option. Continue reading “Zipping into life”